Amilcare Ponchielli

Amilcare Ponchielli

Amilcare Ponchielli (born August 31 or September 1, 1834 in Paderno Fasolaro (today Paderno Ponchielli; named after him) near Cremona ; † January 16 or January 17, 1886 in Milan ) was an Italian composer and music teacher .

Life

At the age of nine, Ponchielli began his education at the Milan Conservatory , which he successfully completed in 1854. He then worked in Cremona as organist at the St. Hilary Church and as Maestro sostituto (second conductor) at the Teatro della Concordia . He had a personal friendship with Ruggero Manna (1808–1864), the cathedral and opera conductor of Cremona.

On September 17, 1856, the opera I Promessi Sposi , which Ponchielli had written together with the librettists Giuseppe Aglio and Cesare Stradivari , premiered in Cremona. Alfredo Colombani reported in the Gazzetta Musicale di Milano : Success was already evident in the overture; it was applauded so enthusiastically that the maestro was called onto the stage several times .

Two other premieres ( Beltrando di Bormio in Turin and La Savoiarda in Cremona) were unsuccessful; Ponchielli ran into financial difficulties. From 1861 to 1874 he directed the Banda della Guardia Nazionale , a wind band in Piacenza , for which he wrote two new compositions a month - a total of more than 150 works. Despite the degrading working conditions, he conscientiously fulfilled his artistic assignment. In 1874 he settled in Milan; on June 26th he married the soprano Teresina Brambilla (1845–1921), who had sung Lucia at the revival of the Promessi Sposi at the Teatro Dal Verme, which had been redesigned by Emilio Praga .

In 1881 Amilcare Ponchielli became cathedral music director in Bergamo , and in 1883 professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory. He was a respected and popular teacher. Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni were among his students . Mascagni describes Ponchielli in his memoirs as an amiable, disinterested sponsor and advisor.

Ponchielli is best known today for his music for the opera La Gioconda ; the allegorical ballet interlude from the 3rd act, the dance of the hours , achieved request concert popularity. The libretto of La Gioconda was written by Arrigo Boito . It is based on the drama Angelo, tyran de Padoue by the French romanticist Victor Hugo , which premiered in Paris in 1835 , and whose stage works inspired numerous librettists and composers to create their own works.

In 1892 a Ponchielli monument was erected in Cremona.

Compositions

Stage works

Operas

• Il Sindaco Babbeo (collaborative work with fellow students; missing). Libretto:?. Premiere March 1851 Milan (Conservatory)
• Maometto (op. 1; ~ 1850/54). Opera scene. Libretto: Felice Romani
• I Promessi Sposi (op. 2; 1856). Opera (Melodramma) in 4 acts. Libretto: Giuseppe Aglio and Cesare Stradivari (after Alessandro Manzoni ). Premiere August 30, 1856 Cremona (Teatro della Concordia)
  • New version (1872). Libretto: Emilio Praga . Premiere December 4, 1872 Milan (Teatro Dal Verme)
• Beltrando dal Bormio (op. 3; 1858). Opera in 4 acts. Libretto:?
• La Savoiarda ( op.4 ; 1861). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Francesco Guidi . Premiere January 19, 1861 Cremona (Teatro Concordia)
  • New version: Lina (op.4a). Libretto: Francesco Guidi and Carlo d'Ormeville (1840–1924). Premiere November 17, 1877 Milan (Teatro Dal Verme)
• Roderico, Re dei Goti . Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Francesco Guidi . Premiere December 26th 1863 Piacenza (Teatro Municipale)
• La Vergine di Kermo (op. 5; collaborative work with 12 other composers). Opera. Libretto:?. Premiere February 16, 1870 Cremona (Teatro Concordia)
• Il Parlatore Eterno (op. 6). Opera (Scherzo comico) in one act. Libretto: Antonio Ghislanzoni . Premiere October 18, 1873 Lecco (Teatro Sociale)
• I Lituani (op. 7; 1874). Opera (Dramma lirico) in a prologue and 3 acts. Libretto: Antonio Ghislanzoni (after Adam Mickiewicz : Konrad Wallenrod , 1827). Premiere March 7, 1874 Milan (Teatro alla Scala); World premiere of the new version March 6, 1875 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)
  • Further revision: Aldona . Libretto?. Premiere November 20, 1884 St. Petersburg (Teatro Maria)
• I Mori di Valenza (op.8; begun in 1873, fragment). Opera in 4 acts. Libretto: Antonio Ghislanzoni . Composition supplemented by Annibale Ponchielli and Arturo Cadore . Premiere March 17, 1914 Monte Carlo
• La Gioconda (op.9; 1876). Opera (Dramma lirico) in 4 acts. Libretto: Arrigo Boito (after Victor Hugo : Angelo, tyran de Padoue , 1835). Premiere April 8, 1876 Milan (Teatro alla Scala); World premiere of the new versions: October 18, 1876 Venice (Teatro Rossini); January 24, 1877 Rome (Teatro Apollo); November 27, 1879 Genoa (Politeama genovese); February 12, 1880 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)
• Il Figliuol Prodigo ( The Prodigal Son , op.10 ; 1880). Opera in 4 acts. Libretto: Angelo Zanardini . Premiere December 26, 1880 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)
• Marion Delorme (op.11; 1885). Opera in 4 acts. Libretto: Enrico Golisciani (after Victor Hugo , Marion Delorme ); New version: Antonio Ghislanzoni . Premiere March 17, 1885 Milan (Teatro alla Scala); World premiere of the new version August 9, 1885 Brescia (Teatro Grande)
• Olga . Opera (fragment). Libretto: Carlo D'Ormeville

Ballets

• La Grisetta ( op.14 ). Premiere February 2nd (3rd?) 1865 Cremona (Teatro Concordia)
• Orsowa ossia il genio della montagna (op.15). Premiere February 10, 1871 Cremona (Teatro Concordia)
• Le due gemelle ( op.16 ). Premiere February 4, 1873 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)
• Clarina (missing). Premiere September 7, 1873 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)

Vocal compositions

• La Prigione del Bargello (op.102). Cantata for male choir and piano. Text:?. Premiere August 5, 1854 Milan (concert at the end of the course)
• La Tirolese (op. 103; 1850–1854). Sacred hymn for 7-part choir and orchestra. Text:?
• L'Italia e Dante . Cantata for voices and orchestra (lost). Text:?. Premiere June 4, 1865 Cremona (Teatro Concordia)
• Mass for the Church of St. Hilary in Cremona (lost except for the Credo - adopted in the Mass of 1882 )
• A Gaetano Donizetti (op.12). Cantata for voices and orchestra. Text: A.Ghislanzoni. Premiere September 13, 1875 Bergamo (Teatro Ricciardi)
• Come noi che siam bambini . Hymn for the national exhibition in 1881, for 2 voices, violin and piano. Text:?. Premiere May 5, 1881 Milan (Giardini Pubblici)
• Mass (op.20) for solos, choir and orchestra. Premiere December 25, 1882 Bergamo (Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore)
• Cantata per il monumento ad Alessandro Manzoni . Text:?. Premiere May 22, 1883 Milan (Teatro alla Scala)
• Cantata per papa Gregorio VII (op.13) for tenor, bass, choir and orchestra. Text:?. WP December 14, 1885 Bergamo (Palazzo Cittadella)
• L'aura mistica del cielo ( op.28 ; undated) for 3-part female choir (only soprano), organ and accordion. Text:?
• La sera (op.104; undated). Cataplasma for children's voices and piano. Text:?
• Sega sega il legnajuolo ( op.194 ; undated) for female choir (only soprano), boys' choir and piano. Text:?
• All'opra all'opra ( op.196 ; undated, authorship uncertain) for boys' choir, violin and piano. Text:?

Works for orchestra

• Le due gemelle (1874). Dances
• Trumpet Concerto (op.123)
• Symphony (op.153)

Works for wind orchestra

Concerts, symphonies

• Concerto (1866) for trumpet and wind orchestra
  1.  Allegro risoluto - 2.  Andante - 3.  Allegro
• Sinfonia No. 1 in F minor (1872)
• Sinfonia No. 2 in B minor (1872)
  1st  Breve poco mosso - 2nd  Allegro con brio
• Il Convegno (1872) for 2 clarinets and wind orchestra
• Concerto per Flicorno Basso (Concerto for euphonium and wind orchestra; first original work for euphonium) (1872)

Funeral music, marches, dances

• Marcia funebre No. 1
• Elegia by Felice Frasi
• Marcia funebre per i funerali di Francesco Lucca
• Marcia funebre “Alla memoria mio Padre”
• Fantasia militare (1863)
• I Saturnali. Fantasia Originals (1866)
• Marcia funebre per i funerali di Alessandro Manzoni (1873)
• Elegia sulla tomba di Garibaldi (1882)
• Il Gottardo (1882)
• Canto Greco - Variazioni per banda
  Andante sostenuto - Tema - 10 Variazioni
• Elena . polka
• Carnival memories . waltz
• Woman madness . waltz
• Lavinia . polka
• Lisa . polka
• Marcia Trionfale (Marcia Milano)
• Piazza Stradivari . march
• Pee . polka
• Marcia Principe Umberto (op.124)
• Roma . march
• Sogni di guerra . march
• Seduction . waltz
• Adele (op. 161). waltz

Chamber music

• Quartet (1873) for flute, oboe, piccolo clarinet in Eb and clarinet in Bb
• Capriccio (op. 80) for oboe and piano

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Amilcare Ponchielli in the International Music Score Library Project
• Works by and about Amilcare Ponchielli in the catalog of the German National Library